Sick Inside
by VintagexXxlove
Summary: Gabriella Montez is just a girl who kissed a boy. SongFic.


**Dedicated to; **_i.was.made.in.the.eighties_

_**Sick Inside.  
One Shot.**_

Disclaimer: I own Nothing. And that's that.

* * *

_I'm just a girl who, kissed a boy who, Is in love with someone else_

_Sharpay.  
I kissed Troy.  
I'm so, so sorry.  
-Gabriella._

_I didn't mean toFeel the way I doIt just happened by itself_

Her writing was messy and uneven, her usual neat cursive missing as she quickly scribbled the note down on a scrap of paper that she had conjured out of the bottom of her book bag. Her hands shook as she folded the paper crisply in half before scrunching it up in her hand and walking out of the library. Her eyes immediately scanned the hallway for the blonde bombshell that was arguably the most popular girl at East High.

Seeing the coast was clear, she quickly started down the hallway, hoping to get to her Biology class without running into her. But only two doors before her classroom, a small poster caught her eye as she passed it. She stopped to examine it.

_Spring Formal; Flower Queen contenders.  
Cristina Abbott  
Sharpay Evans  
Trina Langley  
Gabriella Montez  
Amy Scott  
Vote for your Flower Queen before April 14!_

She blinked once, twice, her brain trying to absorb what she was seeing. _I'm in the running for Flower Queen?_ How? When? Why? Was it a cruel joke? She hadn't even been planning on going to the Spring Formal. She heard the bell go off, though it seemed like it was a thousand miles away to her…

Tearing the paper off the wall, she quickly walked towards her biology class as she stuffed the paper into her book bag and sat down at her bench at the back of the room. The teacher began immediately, telling the class to take out their notebooks and write down the days lesson, but Gabriella stayed motionless, the small piece of paper still crunched in her fist. _I just need the perfect moment._

_And now I'm sick inside  
Yeah, it makes me wanna' cry  
I'm so sorry about last night  
Yeah, it happened so fast._

"_Hey Gabriella!" Troy Bolton pulled up in front of her house in an old pickup truck, that was most likely a gift from his parents._

Gabriella's head shot up at the sound of his voice. She had been doing some gardening out front, a request from her mother who was sick in bed. She wiped her hands off on her pants and smiled back at him as she made the short trek towards his truck. "Hi."

"Have you seen Sharpay? She said you were tutoring her today…" Troy turned off his radio, the song 'Dirt Little Secret' abruptly stopped at the turn of the knob.

Gabriella shook her head. "She cancelled, said that her brother was having a major crisis or something?" She wasn't entirely sure of why Sharpay cancelled, there had been too much screaming in the background for her to completely understand what exactly what was wrong with Sharpay, or her brother for that matter.

Troy rolled his eyes. "Ryan's a basket case."

Gabriella simply nodded, not exactly comfortable insulting someone she didn't really know. For all she knew, Ryan Evans could be having a MAJOR crisis. Silence fell between the two teenagers, Troy watched a few cars drive by well Gabriella counted how many flowers she had left to plant and water.

"So, what are you doing?" Troy asked, as he got out of his car, turning off the engine and shoving the keys in his pocket.

Gabriella raised an eyebrow at the rather obvious answer. "Um, gardening."

"Oh, right." Troy replied, his hand finding the back of his neck in nervous habit. "Well uh, did you want some help?"

"Nah, I'm almost done." Gabriella smiled. "Thanks though."

Troy nodded, he watched as Gabriella walked back over to the small dirt patch where she already had an array of flowers planted and watered. He followed her up the walk way and took a seat on the porch. "So, are you going to the Spring Formal?"

Gabriella glanced up at him, wondering what he was still doing there, but enjoying the company nonetheless. "No." She pulled out a long weed and threw it over her shoulder. "What about you?"

"Yeah, with Sharpay." He chuckled to himself. "Of course with Sharpay, who else?" He said quickly, feeling stupid, seeming it was probably obvious he was going to go with Sharpay. "Why aren't you going?"

She shrugged, pulling another weed, smaller this time, and tossing it away. "I don't know. I'm not really into dancing.. And no one asked me to go, so…" She trailed off, feeling rather self-conscious admitting to Troy that no one had asked her to go to the dance.

"Really?" Troy was surprised. "Not one person asked you?"

Gabriella nodded with a sigh. "Not one."

"That's crazy." Troy stated. He shook his head slowly and continued to watch as Gabriella planted the last flower.

"What do you think?!" Gabriella asked, referring to her just finished garden.

Troy held out his hands in a questioning manner. "Looks good?"

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella began to gather up the shovel and the now empty flower tray and any other item that was used in her task. "Too manly to admit that I'm awesome and that the flowers look AH-Mazing?"

"No, just didn't want to hurt your feelings." Troy smiled at the questioning look on her face. "Just saying, I've seen better. And by better, I mean my mum's garden."

"Puh-lease!" Gabriella huffed as she took her stuff into the open garage. "My garden is far more superior."

"Nope." Troy said simply.

"Yes it is!"

"Nah… I don't think so."

"It is so!"

Troy shook his head. "No, it really isn't."

"Just admit it!"

"My parents taught me not to lie." He shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips.

Crossing her arms, Gabriella gave up. "Fine, but I'm only 17, your mom's had WAY more experience then me." She reasoned.

"If it makes you feel better…"

"Well, it does…"

"Okay then! Want to get something to eat?" Troy completely changed the subject as he reached up to pull the garage door down for Gabriella who wasn't quite tall enough to reach the handle.

Gabriella looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, I'm starving."

_I wanted it to last  
In the moment it felt so right  
But now I'm sick inside_

Gabriella had rushed out of Biology, she had heard her teacher calling after her, but she just didn't have the time to stay and 'chat', socializing was not her biggest concern at the moment. Suddenly, she spotted the most recognizable head of blonde hair at East High. Sharpay. _Uh-oh. _Making a complete U-turn, she knew there was more then one way to get to the gymnasium. But just to make sure, she looked back once more and stopped dead in her tracks.

She didn't care that a couple freshman's bumped into her, and that a Senior nearly pummelled her to the ground in his attempt to get through the hallway. Her eyes were held captive on the couple just a few meters ahead of her.

They were holding hands. Troy smiled down in delight at his girlfriend who was giggling feverishly at some text she had just received on her bedazzled Sidekick. He wiped a few strays of her blonde hair out of her eyes before leaning down and capturing her glossed lips in a moment of passion.

People looked like blurs as they passed. Gabriella only seemed to be able to focus on the Golden Couple of East High. Every touch, every smile, every look. She felt like she was in a movie, and a really corny one at that. She was the _other_ girl, she was watching from the sidelines as the boy who she barely knew, yet longed after kissed the girl of his dreams.

Breathing became hard, tears welling up in her eyes she felt the sudden feeling of complete heartache take over her. One afternoon. Was that all it took? A few hours of conversation, and she was hooked? She had heard of the Bolton charm… But this just wasn't fair.

_He stopped by my house  
We were hanging out  
He was wondering where you were  
We went walking  
We were just talking_

"_Ew. I can't believe I just ate that!" Gabriella cringed as she wiped a small white napkin across her lips, hoping to get the taste out of her mouth. "Never, ever again, Troy." She stated._

Troy was in a fit of laughter. "I can't believe you actually ate it!" He crooned, holding his stomach as they walked through a small park just across the street from the small plaza where they had grabbed hamburgers. "Did you actually believe me when I said Pickle and French fry smoothies were good?"

"I would much rather forget this whole incident ever happened." Gabriella muttered as she popped a tic tac in her mouth.

Troy rolled his eyes but nodded to the brunette. "Fine, forgotten."

"Thank-you."

Troy glanced around the empty park, noting that the sun was starting to set. "So, ready to go back?"

"Yeah, my mom's probably wondering where I am…" Gabriella glanced up at Troy, who was just strolling along beside her, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he looked forward. She found herself studying his features, something she had never really done. She had never been the girl who had the crush on Troy, although most girls at East High did… And now that she actually got a good look, she could see why so many girls wanted him on their arm.

Troy was a handsome boy. Man.

"Checking me out Montez?" Troy said casually, a smirk on his lips as he glanced down at Gabriella from the corner of his eye. "You should see the back, that's what I get the most compliments on…"

"Conceited much?" Gabriella quipped, her voice quiet as she was embarrassed having been caught 'checking' Troy out.

He chuckled and draped an arm around Gabriella's shoulders. "Nah, most girls actually prefer my 'beautiful' eyes." He said in a horribly high voice which Gabriella could only assume was supposed to be an impersonation of some of the girls at East High. "That or my ripped 6-pack."

Shaking her head, she nudged him in the side with a smile on her face. "I wasn't checking you out."

"Sure you weren't." He said disbelievingly as they neared the parking lot and spotted Troy's truck.

"I wasn't." She insisted, though she was well aware that this was a losing battle.

Troy raised an eyebrow as he dug through his jean pockets to find his car keys. "aha." He pulled the chain of keys out and threw them up in the air triumphantly. Smiling over at Gabriella who was leaning up against the passenger door, he took a step closer to her as he wiggled his keys in front of her. She raised an eyebrow at his behaviour.

"Um, is something wrong? Beside's your mental health?"

Troy mock glared at her before shrugging his behaviour off and placing a hand casually by her head as he perched himself up against the truck. "There's nothing wrong with me mentally, thank you very much."

"Are you sure? Because my mom's a doctor… well, a gynaecologist, but I'm sure she would make an exception for you…" Gabriella trailed off as Troy's face moved in dangerously close.

"I'm very sure." Troy said hoarsely, his eyes transfixed on Gabriella's lips.

And not a moment later, his lips were attached to hers, her arms slowly snaking their way around his neck.

_Then he kissed me by his car_

Gabriella had sat through lunch, and it felt like a complete blur. At some point she remembered shoving a Peanut Butter and Jam sandwich down her throat, but other then that, someone would have been able to run up to her, throw a pie in her face and she would have remained none the wiser. Her hand was still clenched around the small piece of paper. How was she going to give it to her?

Would she be mad? _Of course she'll be mad!_

Maybe she could just slip the note in her locker? That would work, if her locker wasn't constantly surrounded by people who seemed to only come to school to hang out with Sharpay… Maybe she could follow her around, _at a safe distant of course_, and then when she goes to the bathroom, she'll slip the note under her stall and hightail it out of there?

Whatever she did, she had to do it quickly. Sighing, Gabriella trekked upstairs towards her locker to grab her books for her afternoon classes. Wandering around aimlessly as she waited for the warning bell to ring, it finally seemed as though the gods were against her. Troy and Sharpay were walking directly towards her, their hands linked.

She almost dove to the side, not wanting any contact with the two, but as she steadied herself against the locker, trying to calm herself and convince herself that army manoeuvres were not needed… yet, she glanced up in a lapse of judgement and found herself staring into a pair of blue orbs. But it was only a moment, those blue orbs were within a second later looking back at the blonde bombshell whose hand he held in his own.

_And now I'm sick inside  
Yeah, it makes me wanna' cry  
I'm so sorry about last night  
Yeah, it happened so fast  
I wanted it to last  
In the moment it felt so right  
But now I'm sick inside_

"_You, you won't tell anyone will you!?" Troy had a look of horror on his face. "You can't tell Sharpay!"_

Gabriella nodded, she was speechless. She watched as Troy paced back and forth, mumbling incoherently to himself. She didn't listen to the conversation Troy seemed to be having with himself, she didn't really care.

And there was only one reason.

She couldn't get the feeling of Troy's lips on hers to go away.

They were much softer then she would have ever imagined. He had seemed quite content when he was kissing her, that when he pulled away from her, she was startled, but that was before she realized what she was doing, and who she was doing it with more importantly.

"Fuck! I can't believe- Shit!" Gabriella caught a few words Troy was mumbling and immediately felt guilty.

"Troy, I-"

"You won't tell her, right?" He asked, and again Gabriella nodded.

"Of course not."

"Good, because it meant nothing, you know that right?" Troy hopped into his truck and waited for Gabriella to get in the passenger seat before turning on the engine. "It meant nothing." He repeated.

"Yeah, it meant nothing." Gabriella replied, leaning her head against the window as Troy pulled out of the parking lot. 

_Now I'm stuck with this feeling in the pit of my soul  
Guess I should have had a little self-control  
I knew that I was wrong, I admit it_

_You can do this, You can do this, You can do this. _Gabriella held the tiny note in her hands, she was headed straight for the theatre where she knew Sharpay would be, practicing lines for the Spring Musicale, no doubt.

When she pulled the door open, she was immediately engulfed in darkness, at least compared to the bright, fluorescent hallway outside. There was only a few lights around the stage, and tiny tube lights which lined the aisles of the auditorium. Voices could be heard the moment she walked in, and with the old accents she could hear, she knew they must be just in the middle of reading lines, so she took a seat and waited.

She was going to wait as long as she had to. Because she couldn't live with this on her conscious anymore. Sure, it hadn't even been 24 hours, but that was long enough for her. She was ready to be a free woman once again!

_I wish there was a way that I could make it alright  
I really wanna' tell you that I put up a fight  
But that would be a lie_

"Sharpay!" Gabriella called out the moment Ms. Darbus had told the cast and crew that they were done rehearsing for the day. Sharpay turned at the sound of her name, and wore a confused expression as Gabriella approached her.

"I don't think I have a session with you today, do I?" Sharpay enquired when Gabriella was in earshot distance.

Gabriella shook her head with a sad smile on her face. "No, I don't think we'll be having them anymore."

Sharpay nodded before she realized what Gabriella had said. "Wait, what?"__

This is it. Gabriella felt as though the note would burn through her hand at any moment if she didn't just hand it over. "Sharpay, I…" But Gabriella couldn't continue, she had nothing to say, so she opted to hold her hand out to Sharpay, revealing the note which she had been carrying around with her all day. "Here."

Sharpay raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow before slowly unfolding the note carefully, not wanting to rip it.

_And now I'm sick inside  
Yeah, it makes me wanna' cry  
I'm so sorry about last night_

Gabriella waited with baited breath. She couldn't read Sharpay's expression as her eyes repeatedly scanned the note. "Sharpay?"

Sharpay suddenly looked up, her expression stone cold. In one swift moment, she brought her hand back and let it make contact with Gabriella's cheek, a loud, resounding 'SMACK', echoing throughout the empty theatre. She crumpled the letter in her hand and to Gabriella's surprise, shoved it back in her hands.

She was confused, especially when Sharpay simply walked out. No yelling, no hair pulling, no scratches, no.. nothing. She just… walked out. "Sharpay?" She called out to no one in particular as she held her hand up to her stinging cheek.

But the theatre was silent.

_Yeah, it happened so fast  
I wanted it to last  
In the moment it felt so right  
But now I'm sick inside_

Gabriella walked through the halls at the end of the day, her body feeling beaten down and exhausted. All she wanted to do was go home, take a hot, hot bath and go to bed. She hadn't seen Sharpay for the rest of the day, and Troy was also nowhere to be seen, it seemed like they had both disappeared.

Throwing some books into her bag, not really caring where they landed, she heaved her bag over her shoulder before slamming her locker shut, hearing the distinct sound of a shattering mirror from the other side of her locker. But she didn't dare look, she just wanted to get out of East High.

"Hi Troy!" Gabriella immediately glanced up when she heard his name. She watched the exchange between Troy and his best friend Chad Danforth, who had a basketball tucked under his arm, but that wasn't a surprise, Chad always had a basketball with him. What surprised her, was the fact that Sharpay was standing right next to Troy, staring up at him with a large smile on her face.

Her eyes travelled down their arms, only to see them attached with a link at the hands. Sharpay glanced over at Gabriella, a look of disdain on her face before she turned back to Troy who whispered something in her ear, which sent a girlish giggle throughout the hall.

She didn't think Sharpay would ever stay with someone who cheated on her. But there she was, standing there, leaning into him, their hands entwined as they made 'lovey-dovey' faces to each other and continued to totally gross out Chad as they seemed to kiss whenever the other one said something.

_Now I'm sick inside  
Yeah, it makes me wanna' cry  
In the moment it felt so right_

Gabriella put on a brave face, she shifted her backpack on her shoulders and took a deep breath. Taking one step forward, her eyes darted to the ground as she walked by the couple, not daring to look up even when she felt the distinct feeling of being watched. _Just keep walking_. _Just keep walking._

"Gabriella!" She stopped in her tracks, turning slowly to face Sharpay. A look of uncertainty appeared on her face as she walked over to Troy and Sharpay. "I'm having a bit of trouble on the whole Photosynthesis thing in Bio', so I was thinking we should meet up in the library tomorrow, say, at 4?"

Gabriella looked like a fish out of water. She kept opening her mouth, only to close it moments after when she found she had nothing to say.

"Are you alright?" Sharpay enquired, casting Gabriella an awkward glance.

"I-I'm fine." She glanced at Troy momentarily, which didn't go unnoticed by Sharpay.

"So I'll see you at 4, okay?" It sounded more like a demand, rather then a question.

"Sure, Sharpay." She agreed, not exactly sure what was happening. "Tomorrow at 4."

Sharpay nodded. "Good. Bye then." Sharpay smiled at her before walking off, Troy following her without a word, only glancing back at her once before turning the corner.

Gabriella stood there, now supporting herself against the lockers as she stared down the emptying hallway. She felt tears stinging at her eyes, probably the same ones that had been trying to force themselves out all day, but this time, she didn't fight it. Sliding down the locker, she let the tears flow freely.

_I'm just a girl who  
Kissed a boy who  
Is in love with you_

**Author's Note: **Hope Partlow - Sick Inside (Zac Efron in video; he's looking extra yum!) And yeah, I'm sure this has been done a THOUSAND times over, so I thought I would make it an even a' THOUSAND and One. I'm not too sure about the ending, but it's approaching 3 in the morning, so I'm going to call it a night! Or.. Morning? Enjoy!! And maybe… review?


End file.
